The Hardest Week

Living in Tokyo has been soul-crushingly lonely, but last week was the hardest by far.  My family didn't call or text (so I stayed up until 3am to call them during their morning and then head in to the office for a very early conference call).  Our office was open all week and I worked a lot of overtime (leaning on single, childless employees to stay late during the holiday season is not just an American tradition!).  As a result, I missed my dinner reservation on Christmas Eve and didn't get to sit down for a proper dinner until Friday night.

Friday had been a particularly tough day and, as I sat at dinner by myself, I scrolled through Facebook and Instagram and there were some tears looking at everyone's pictures from their family holiday celebrations.  There was some anger at the firm, for trading away so much of my PTO when negotiating the secondment that I only have enough PTO to attend my brother's wedding this spring and couldn't go home for the holidays (despite having months of PTO accrued!).  There was some fear that my personal life will always be this empty.

But I got through it.

Next week will be better.